Straight fluorescent linear lamps are made of glass and come in various sizes such as 61.0 cm (2′), 122.0 cm (4′), and 244 cm (8′) lengths. The longer the length, the more difficult they are to store, pack, ship, display, and handle without the risk of damage. For example, the popular 244 cm (8′) long fluorescent lamp is not easily capable of being transported in a car and cannot be shipped in the mail or by delivery vehicles easily. When displayed in stores, these lamps are typically stood up vertically or laid horizontally on display racks. In the process of retrieving these long fluorescent lamps breakage is not uncommon. This not only results in loss of the merchandise, but extra cleanup costs are incurred as fluorescent lamps contain mercury and must be handled and disposed of with extra care.
In addition to straight fluorescent linear lamps, there are also a variety of U-bend fluorescent lamps that include two parallel leg sections with single pins or bi-pins at one end of each leg and a U-shaped section joining the two legs at their other end. The two legs are separated on center by standards increments, including 4.13 cm (1.625″), 7.62 cm (3″), and 15.2 cm (6″). The straight sections also come in various lengths and the tube diameters are also available in a variety of sizes. On top of this, U-bend fluorescent lamps are provided in different wattages/lumen output and also different Kelvin temperatures, e.g., 2700-3500K=warm white, 4100 K=cool white, with 5000K and higher being bright white. Thus, manufacturers need to make and reseller need to stock a great number of different U-bend fluorescent lamps to meet customer demands. In additional to the larger number of Stock Keeping Units (SKUs), these U-bend fluorescent bulbs and their packaging take up additional room when packaged, stored, and shipped, and can be susceptible to breakage.
With the transition from fluorescent linear lamps to LED linear lamps rapidly taking place, current LED lamps products are being made in the same lengths as their predecessor straight tube fluorescent lamps, viz., 61.0 cm (2′), 122.0 cm (4′), and 244 cm (8′) lengths, and U-bend lamps so that the LED lamps can replace the fluorescent linear lamps. Although LED linear lamps generally use plastic tubing instead of glass tubing and are therefore somewhat less susceptible to breakage compared to fluorescent lamps, many of the same issues regarding, storage, packaging, transportation, and handling remain, namely that in the case of straight lamps, long skinny objects are hard to handle and that U-bend lamps must be provided in a very large number of specifications to meet customer demand.
There accordingly remains a need for improved LED linear lamps and LED U-bend lamps to address these shortcomings.